"Subservient passive role"
It seems to me we accept that all the time. In school, as pupils we have teachers, at home we have parents, and then in the military! Talk about a subservient passive role. Go to work and we have bosses.
Oh, our advice is heard, our wishes taken under consideration, and ultimately there is a "subservient passive role". It's understood and accepted by all.
However, my impression is that by wife and husband, these people were defining duties rather than subservience.